Email design do’s and don’ts

Email marketing is an ideal and affordable marketing strategy for small businesses that want to quickly build a customer base and yield profits with minimal investment. But before you can get people to click on your messages, you have to capture their attention. Design plays a critical role in marketing success, so keep the following email design do’s and don’ts in mind when you develop your email campaigns.

Make your content easy to scan, so recipients do not need to read every word to understand your email and click your CTA.

Use headings and subheads to maintain visual organization.

The example below from Panera Bread has plenty of white space, expertly mixes images and text, and uses subheads to divide up sections. All of these elements work together to produce an email that is scannable and visually appealing.

Don’ts

Don’t use a single image for your emails; many email clients will not automatically display images.

Don’t make your emails too long. Some email clients clip long messages (Gmail, for example, clips any messages larger than 102 KB). Clipped messages are not only bad for marketing and forwarding, but they can violate CAN-SPAM rules because they hide unsubscribe links.

Don’t stuff everything you can think of into your emails; instead, use emails as tools to motivate clicks for more information and purchases.

Don’t use a dark, patterned or image background for your content (it’s OK to have a dark background behind a lighter main body content area, which can make your email pop, though it won’t show in all email clients).

Do’s

Fill headers and footers with your primary color, if desired, or use colored lines to separate them from main body content.

Use images to add additional colors to your email design.

The red and yellow in the Dr. Martens email below add a nice pop of color and complement the design’s black and white elements. The limited color palette draws the reader’s attention to the copy while a busier design might have pulled focus from the most important information.

Don’ts

Don’t use colored body text – keep it black or dark gray.

Don’t use a dark-colored background for your main content area.

Don’t use more than two colors in your design (multi-colored logos and images are fine).

Don’t use colors that clash or are otherwise unattractive.

Email fonts and typography tips

Keep typography simple for legible emails that engage readers.

Do’s

Use only one or two fonts in your email.

Use sans serif fonts for body text; either sans serif or serif fonts may be used for headers and subheads.

Email header and footer tips

Do’s

Incorporate your logo or company name into your header to identify your brand.

Add teaser text before your header, which will show up on the subject line in many email clients and give you another opportunity to influence opens.

Apply the same header and footer across all campaigns for consistent branding.

Include contact information, additional resources such as social media links and value-added links, unsubscribe links and any legal fine print in the footer.

In the promotional email below, the Lucky Brand logo is the first thing you see when you open it. The clothing retailer always includes social media links in its email footers, too.

Don’ts

Don’t create a complex design for your header or footer — keep it simple so readers can get to the meat of your email.

Don’t add a lot of navigation to your header or footer. Simplify as much as possible, so you can effectively brand your emails without getting in the way of your message.

Don’t include too much text in your header or footer — again, simplicity is key.

Whenever you’re tinkering with email design, remember that it’s best practice to make sure new design elements look right across every platform and browser; fortunately, VerticalResponse’s Test Kit makes that part easy. And, armed with these tips, you can design compelling emails that get opened, motivate clicks and fuel sales.

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